Sustainable Finance Marks New Steps in Push for Standardization

The global sustainable finance market worth more than $35 trillion marked another milestone recently, when the first green bond was sold under a new classification system that will face increasing tests next year.

A green note priced last week used something called the Common Ground Taxonomy as one of the criteria for vetting its ESG bona fides. That was the first such issuance under that framework, which was codified in a report released by China and the European Union in November.

China Construction Bank Corp.’s Macau branch, which issued the security, will use the proceeds for loans to customers involved …